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Atlante Delle Isole Remote: Cinquanta Isole Dove Non Sono Mai Stata E Mai Andrò (2009)

by Judith Schalansky(Favorite Author)
4.22 of 5 Votes: 1
ISBN
884527506X (ISBN13: 9788845275067)
languge
English
publisher
Bompiani
review 1: once I finished it, I was astonished by a question that, can I be consumed by PDF books? Judith Schalansky’s Atlas of Remote Islands, subtitled Fifty Islands I have not visited and never will, is one of the best books I've ever read so far.as it combines historic, Geologic and political information about Fifty isolated islands. Moreover, I like how she perfectly chose the diction. the word island in literature might refer to heaven and the ideal state, and may mean imprisonment.
review 2: What romantic-at-heart could resist a book about remote islands? Especially if it is as beautifully produced like this one? I settled down with this book with great expectations, but after reading a few of the 50 vignettes that make up the book, I began to feel a strange se
... morense of disappointment, even irritation. These half-page vignettes were snapshots, written in the present tense, of events that happened on the island in question. Sometimes these stories were anchored by a date, a name, but often they were just short write-ups of something that happened to somebody at some point. Sometimes they were impressionistic pieces. Perhaps some readers would find that intriguing, a little taste of something exotic and unexpected. I found it annoying, to be teased with a little tidbit and then to be left with no opportunities for finding out more. And I am not sure all the information is correct. For instance, there is a fascinating story about a Frenchman, Marc Liblin, who started dreaming in an unknown language at the age of 6. No one could figure out what language this was, until he did a "solo" in a harbor bar. The barman told him that this was the language of a tiny island near Easter Island, and that - oh, what a coincidence- a woman from that remote island happened to live nearby. So he went and met her, married her and moved to that island. To me this story didn't pass the sniff test. I was not able to find anything on the internet except that same story, which seems to have been based on an article written by Marc Liblin himself, in the 1990s. I think that the author, who is primarily a visual artist, intended for the book to be nothing more than a collection of vaguely interesting stories (and lovely maps). But for me these anecdotes triggered a strong curiosity and interest, which was not satisfied. And due to the fact that there were no sources given for any of the stories, I was not able to follow up independently, read more, satisfy my curiosity. So this book left me unsettled and unsatisfied, like a starving person who was given one spoonful of food and then saw it whisked away again. less
Reviews (see all)
esme
Bijzondere verhalen over eilanden, van de meeste had ik nog nooit gehoord.
Stella
Viel unterhaltsamer als man im ersten Moment vermuten würde.
jules
Absolutely gorgeous book, not to mention quite educational.
annamlovesreading
just gorgeous, dreaming vicariously
mcx
read / always reading.
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